· Knows what it’s like to be poor, with young children, and no chance at a better life without a high school diploma

· Attended Caprock High School in Amarillo at age 21, where she was not allowed to interact with other students 47 years ago because she was married and had children

· Was one of the first female mail carriers in Amarillo where she worked at night and attended WT during the day

· Thought she wanted to be a lab technician until Dr. Charles Wyatt scolded her and told her to set her sight higher. He also gave her the $25 to take the MCAT exam

· Was the second woman ever to graduate from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston as a surgeon

· Is medical director and co-founder of the oldest nonprofit center for women’s health in the United States

· Has been inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame

· Has a middle school in Pasadena, Texas, named after her, something she says is “mind-boggling” when you consider where she came from

“It might have been easy to say, ‘Well, this is my lot in life,’” she said, “and kind of given up. I was just a dumb old girl who did not make some good choices, and God stuck with me all this time. He opened doors for me I’ve been so blessed, and I don’t know why. I feel like such an ordinary person. I guess God uses the foolish to confound the wise. But I wake up every day thinking I dreamed this up.”

Milello says her experience at Caprock is not an indictment of the school, but of the times. Read the whole story of this remarkable woman by Jon Mark Beilue here.